High-Scoring VMI Guard Leaves

Published 7:00 pm, Wednesday, January 8, 2003

Virginia Military Institute guard Jason Conley, who led the nation in scoring last season as a freshman, has left the basketball team and said he will transfer to Missouri.

The 6-foot-5 Conley asked VMI to release him so he could play for a team with a more competitive schedule, he said Thursday.

"I've always wanted to play at this level," Conley said of No. 13 Missouri. He said he expected to join Mizzou early next season.

Conley averaged 29.3 points per game last season in becoming the first freshman to lead Division I in scoring.

This season, the sophomore was leading the Keydets (5-6) with averages of 22.2 points and 7.3 rebounds in 10 games.

Conley was at Missouri on Monday and Tuesday and spoke with coaches, said Sam Fleury, men's basketball sports information director. He said the university cannot comment on Conley until "the forms are in hand and he is officially enrolled in school."

Conley, who said he had also looked at Kentucky, West Virginia and several other schools, said he was impressed with Missouri's team and coach, Quin Snyder.

"What I'm interested in is the player development," Conley said in a telephone interview from his family's home in Maryland. "I don't want to blow his (Snyder's) horn, but he's a master at that."

Conley saw Missouri play during his visit.

"I don't think I'm going to step right in there and take over," he said.

Conley established a career high of 42 points last Feb. 9 against Western Carolina. He scored 30 points 11 times.

Conley topped the 1,000-point mark in 36 games, a school record, and finished with 1,029 points for the Keydets.

"I wish Jason the very best as he continues his education," Keydets coach Bart Bellairs said. "I am very proud of the kind of player he developed into while he was at VMI."

Conley said he was "very appreciative of what VMI has done for me. They made me the player I am."

Conley strained a tendon in his right foot in a victory against Harvard last Sunday. He missed VMI's 85-48 loss at Georgetown on Tuesday. Without him, the Keydets shot just 24 percent from the field.